Sunday, April 19, 2015

"Shaq was a true big man. He was a center. He was a 5. Dream was really a 4 playing the 5, and he was a tough matchup. He was smart, highly skilled, and Shaq wasn’t really into his own zone at that time, meaning he wasn’t the Shaq [who] went to L.A. That Shaq was dominant. If he would have met Dream at that time, then Dream would have had problems, but Shaq was still young. Dream was established and in his prime.

Penny

Nick Anderson bought a Ferrari in Houston and he can’t even drive a stick. We’re like, “Why are you buying a $150,000 car during the Finals, in Houston of all places?” That kind of relaxing attitude was not good, and Houston saw it and they just drove us. We were never in it.

Donald Royal

I still believe to this day, if we had won Game 1, we would have won the series.

Brian Hill

It was unfortunate that I left. I think if we would’ve stayed together, we would’ve at least got one. I don’t know about winning three in a row like we did in L.A., but I know we would have got one.

Shaq

My opinion: It would have been more than a couple [championships].

Horace Grant

I don’t think the city or team has recovered from that — even now.

Wayne Monte “Tree” Rollins

I still make my home in Orlando. I just got my hair cut and even my barber was talking about those days. You would think they would be talking about the Dwight Howard days. They went to the championship round also, with the Lakers. But they always talk about those [Shaq and Penny] days. Those were great days.

Friday, April 10, 2015

"Economists have long held up soccer — which has become one of the most globalized markets for skilled labor — as a shining example of the benefits of open borders. The Premier League now draws capital and labor from around the world, and produces a spectacle consumed around the world. That’s why Tottenham’s jerseys feature the logo of AIA, an Asian-based insurance company that doesn’t even have offices in England. And economists say that’s good for the players, their countries — and for England.

As in the United States, however, this expert consensus has largely failed to shift public opinion. The recruitment of skilled foreigners to take jobs once held by English players feeds into deep anxieties about the inflow of immigrants in a country that has never seen itself as a melting pot. A recent Ipsos MORI poll found that 45 percent of Britons regard immigration as the top issue facing the country ahead of national elections in May.

The basic argument is straightforward. There are only 500 player jobs in the Premier League — 20 teams, each with 25 players. Two decades ago, Englishmen held about 69 percent of those jobs. Last season, they held 37 percent, according to data compiled by CIES Football Observatory. By contrast, 61 percent of players in the Spanish league were Spanish; 59 percent of players in the German league were German.
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